Sidney A. Katz was elected to represent County Council District 3 in November 2014 and reelected to a second term in 2018 and a third term in 2022. He started his public service career in Gaithersburg serving on the Planning Commission from 1976 to 1978. He was elected to the Gaithersburg City Council in 1978 and served until 1998. He was elected Mayor of Gaithersburg in 1998 and served until November 10, 2014 when he resigned upon his election to the County Council.

Councilmember Katz is Chair of the Council’s Public Safety Committee and a member of the Government Operations and Fiscal Policy Committee.

Councilmember Katz was inducted into the Maryland Municipal League Hall of Fame in 1998, and is a graduate and fellow of the Academy for Excellence in Local Governance. He served as president of the Maryland Municipal League (MML) from 2008-2009.

While Mayor of Gaithersburg, Councilmember Katz listed among his most significant accomplishments the fact that with thoughtful and innovative planning, the City continued to deliver outstanding services and amenities to its residents while remaining debt free.

Councilmember Katz graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Maryland. A lifelong resident of Gaithersburg, he was the owner of Wolfson’s Department Store in Olde Towne, a small retail store started by his grandparents in 1918 and family-operated until 2013. Councilmember Katz and his wife, Sally, have two children.

Spotlighted Accomplishments

Legislative Achievements

Community Advisory

• Co-sponsor of  Bill 24-23, Airpark Community Advisory Committee - Established. This bill establishes an Airpark Community Advisory Committee (ACAC) for neighbors of the Montgomery County Airpark (MCA), Airpark users, and other key stakeholders to address facility operations as well as noise and safety impacts. 

Public Safety

• Co-sponsor of Bill 3-24E, Late Night Establishments - Hours of Operation.  This bill will align the hours of operation for hookah lounges, smoke shops and vape shops to mirror those of establishments that serve alcohol. Expedited Bill 3-24 is the latest measure aimed at improving late night public safety in central business districts.
• Co-sponsor of Bill 11-23, Motor Vehicles and Traffic – Traffic Signals, Devices, and Automated Enforcement Plan (The Safe Streets Act of 2023), creates safer streets for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers on Montgomery County roadways.
• Lead sponsor of  Bill 21-17, Animal Control – Municipal Dog Exercise Area.  This bill gives municipalities (excluding Rockville and Gaithersburg because they have their own Animal Control Departments) the authority to designate dog parks/exercise areas in which dogs could be off-leash. 

• Lead sponsor of  Expedited Bill 16-17, Swimming Pools – Lifeguards – Amendments. This bill allows hotels to open their pools without a lifeguard on duty if the hotel has a staff member on the premises who is certified in CPR. Hotels are required to have a lifeguard on duty during busy weekend hours and to meet additional safety requirements.

Public Campaign Financing

• Co-lead sponsor of  Bill 31-20:  Public Campaign Financing – Amendments. This bill improves the County's public campaign financing system by changing the maximum contribution limits, allowing candidates to carry over certain funds, requiring an audit after the general election, and altering penalties for violations.
• Co-lead sponsor of  Bill 25-17E:  Elections – Public Campaign Financing – Amendments. This bill updates campaign financing rules. It allows candidates to correct application mistakes within a timeframe, receive public funding for certain donations, and use returned funds to repay any mistakenly received public funding.

Taxation​

• Lead sponsor of  Bill 1-23, Property Tax Credit - Individuals over 65 and Retired Military Service Members - Amendments. This bill raises the assessed value of qualifying properties by $50,000, increasing the maximum assessed value for eligible individuals aged 65 and above to $700,000 and for eligible military service retirees to $550,000. Qualified residents can receive up to a 20 percent annual credit on their county property tax bill for up to seven years.
• Co-lead sponsor of  Bill 21-19E, Property Tax Credit – Elderly Individuals and Retired Military Services Members. This bill expands the property tax credit for surviving spouses of retired military services members.
• Lead sponsor of  Bill 10-16, Taxation–Residential Real Property Tax Deferral–Senior Citizens. This bill provides for a residential real property tax deferral for residents who are at least 65 years old and have a gross annual income of $80,000 or less.

Tenant Relations

• Co-lead sponsor of Expedited Bill 15-23, Landlord-Tenant Relations -Anti Rent Gouging. This bill establishes a maximum allowable rent increases to the lesser of the local annual Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) plus three percent or six percent of the base rent.   

Wages

• Co-lead sponsor of  Bill 14-21E:  Finance – Working Families Income Supplement – Amendments. This bill amends the requirements to allow a resident who qualifies for either the federal or state earned income credit (EITC) to be eligible for the County’s Working Families Income Supplement. This amendment to the County Code expands the eligibility for residents who are individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) holders and qualify for the state EITC, and thereby, eligible for the local earned income tax credit.
• Built consensus among County Council members that allowed for a unanimous vote to enact  Bill 28-17, Human Rights and Civil Liberties – County Minimum Wage – Amount – Annual Adjustment. This bill moves wages toward livability while not exceeding what businesses can absorb.

Community Safety and Welfare

• In 2019, County Executive Marc Elrich and Councilmember Sidney Katz collaborated with local business owners in six business forums/charrettes held throughout Montgomery County. The aim was to gather feedback and explore potential solutions to make Montgomery County an even better place to do business.
• Served on the Montgomery County Maryland Mental Health Court Planning & Implementation Task Force, which led to the creation of a  Mental Health Problem-Solving Court in Montgomery County's District and Circuit Courts
• Past Chair and current member of the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council, whose mission is to reduce the incidence of domestic violence and create a safe community for families to live free of abuse.​
• Hosted seven Senior Forum and Resource Fairs to provide timely and relevant information on safety in the home and community, preventing senior abuse and neglect, and avoiding scams so seniors can live safe, full and enriching lives.